Intravascular ultrasound (“IVUS”) imaging systems have proven diagnostic capabilities for a variety of diseases and disorders. For example, IVUS imaging systems have been used as an imaging modality for diagnosing blocked blood vessels and providing information to aid medical practitioners in selecting and placing stents and other devices to restore or increase blood flow. IVUS imaging systems have been used to diagnose atheromatous plaque build-up at particular locations within blood vessels. IVUS imaging systems can be used to determine the existence of an intravascular obstruction or stenosis, as well as the nature and degree of the obstruction or stenosis. IVUS imaging systems can be used to monitor or assess ongoing intravascular treatments, such as angioplasty and stent placement in real (or almost real) time. Moreover, IVUS imaging systems can be used to monitor one or more heart chambers, for example, a left ventricle.
IVUS imaging systems have been developed to provide a diagnostic tool for visualizing a variety is diseases or disorders. An IVUS imaging system can include a control module (with a pulse generator, an image processor, and a monitor), a catheter, and one or more transducers disposed in the catheter. The transducer-containing catheter can be positioned in a lumen or cavity within, or in proximity to, a region to be imaged, such as a blood vessel wall or patient tissue in proximity to a blood vessel wall. The pulse generator in the control module generates electrical pulses that are delivered to the one or more transducers and transformed to acoustic pulses that are transmitted through patient tissue. Reflected pulses of the transmitted acoustic pulses are detected by the one or more transducers and transformed to electric pulses. The transformed electric pulses are delivered to the image processor and converted to an image displayable on the monitor.
Intravascular and endocardial therapy devices (e.g., endocardial direct injection systems, or the like) have been developed to provide a way to deliver one or more therapeutic agents to patient vasculature or endocardial regions to treat symptoms related to many different diseases and disorders (e.g., coronary heart disease, or the like). An intravascular and endocardial therapy device can include a catheter and a delivery element (e.g., a needle, trocar, or the like) in fluid communication with a therapeutic source. The catheter can be inserted into patient vasculature and, for example, positioned within the left ventricle of the heart such that the delivery element can be extended along the catheter to provide local intervention at the vessel wall, or heart wall, or inserted into a wall of the left ventricle to deliver the therapeutic agent to patient tissue. Alternately, or additionally, the delivery element can also deliver a therapeutic agent without piercing patient tissue. Alternately, or additionally, the therapeutic agent can be delivered to other intravascular or endocardial regions of the patient, as well.